Motor operated vibrator having solar type motion

ABSTRACT

Motor driven apparatus, for inducing vibratory action into a person&#39;&#39;s body, comprised of a housing having a shaft rotatably journaled therein by spaced apart bearing means. Spaced apart eccentric weights placed near each bearing means and rigidly affixed to the shaft induces a circular vibratory motion in the extremities of the housing while the center of the housing remains relatively quiescent. A motor located apart from the housing rotatably drives the shaft by means of a flexible coupling member.

o United States Patent 13,580,246

[72] Inventor Dave 0. Foreman 2,576,116 11/1951 l-lot Tman l28/33UX606E. Broadway, Andrews, Tex. 79714 3,062,203 11/1962 Ziff 128/33X [21]Appl. No. 778,255 3,077,869 2/1963 l-loubeau etal 128/33 [22] Filed Nov.22,1968 45 Patented May 25, 1971 mm; P ZY [5 4] MOTOR OPERATED VIBRATORHAVING SOLAR TYPE MOTION 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 128/36, ABSTRACT; Motor driven apparatus f d i vibratory128/26 128/57 action into a persons body, comprised of a housing havinga Int. shaft rotatably joumaled therein paced apart [50] Search" 128/32'means. Spaced apart eccentric weights placed near each bear- 26, 46, 57ing means and rigidly afiixed to the shaft induces a circular vibratorymotion in the extremities of the housing while the [56] References Citedcenter of the housing remains relatively quiescent. A motor UNHEDSTATESPATENTS located apart from the housing rotatably drives the shaft by739.083 9/1903 Hyatt 128/35 means of a flexible coupling member.

Patented May 25, "1971 3,580,246

FIG. 6

IN VIiN'l'UR. DAVE O. FOREMAN Y MARCUS L. BATES MOTOR OPERATED VIBRATORHAVING SOLAR TYPE MOTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various apparatusfor inducing vibratory motion into the human body are known. Some ofthese devices are attached to the back of ones hand thereby inducingvibratory motion into the hand as it massages the body. Other devicesare known which employ an electric motor having an eccentric weightattached to the shaft thereof. Still other electrical devices of thisnature include a transformer having a portion of the core arranged in amanner which causes it to vibrate.

These prior art devices have proven to be an invaluable aid in providingstimulus for certain regions of the body, and are successful instimulating or increasing the blood circulation. However, it is oftendesirable to stimulate circulation in order to provide treatment of alocal area which is extremely sensitive to pressure or any other typedisturbance. This is especially so with arthritic persons, andparticularly when the arthritis is localized in a joint of the limb.Joint inflammation of this type caused by arthritis is generallysensitive and usually includes pain, stiffness, swelling, limitation ofmotion, and fatigue from action; accordingly, any disturbance of thejoint produces extreme pain. In order to treat such a local area withvibratory motion, it is generally necessary for a professional masseurto manipulate the area surrounding the sensitive joint. It is difficultfor hand manipulation of such an area to provide the necessary deepstimulus required to produce increased circulation within the jointitself.

Therefore it is desirable to be able to stimulate the circulation aboutthe surrounding area of a particular location of the body.

It is furthermore desirable to induce a particular type of vibrationinto the anatomy which stimulates circulation well below the surface ofthe skin. It is also desirable to enable individuals to apply thestimulus to themselves, thereby avoiding the expense of professionalmasseurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention teaches the constructionof an apparatus which induces vibratory action into a person 's body bythe provision of a motor driven apparatus having a shaft which isreceived within spaced apart journals, with spaced apart weights beinglocated adjacent to the journals and spaced apart from each other. Thespaced apart weights are eccentric in configuration so as to induce animbalance into the rotating shaft and into the enclosure which housesthe moving parts. Each eccentric weight is imbalanced with respect toone another by placing the center of mass of the weights where they arediametrically opposed to each other and accordingly, between eacheccentric weight there is an area of minimum vibration.

One form of the invention is enclosed within a housing which provides aflat surface against which a portion of the body may be held in contactin order to induce vibratory forces thereinto. Another form of theinvention is embodied in a resilient tubular housing having journalslocated in each extremity thereof to thereby provide a vibrator whichmay be held in the hands The magnitude of the vibrational energy iscontrolled by the position of oneshand upon the tubular housmg.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a vibratorwhich describes a circular vibrational pattern about a neutral midpoint.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an elongatedtubular vibrator having spaced apart eccentric weights located on ashaft for inducinga maximum vibration at the location of each of theweights and a minimum amount of vibration at a point located along theshaft midway between the weights.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a means bywhich a vibrator can be placed directly upon a sensitive portion of thebody and which will stimulate circulation in the surrounding areaadjacent to the sensitive portion.

LII

Still a further object of the present invention is the provision of avibrator which can be held in the hands whereby the magnitude of thevibration imparted into the hands is controlled by the location at whichthe hands are placed upon the vibrator.

Still a further object of the present invention is the provision of avibrator which is lightweight, rugged in design, economical tomanufacture, and which produces vibrational motion in a toroidallikepattern.

The above objects are attained by the provision of a vibrator having thevarious components thereof fabricated essentially as outlined in theabove summary.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art while studying the following detaileddescription and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showingone form of a motor driven vibrator which has been fabricated inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of part of the device seen in FIG.1, with the top closure member being removed therefrom 'so as todisclose the various parts contained inside thereof, and with some partsbeing cut or broken away and removed in order to better illustrate theinvention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view taken along line 33of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of theinvention, with some parts being broken away and some of the remainingparts being shown in section;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5of FIG. 4; and

FIG.'6 is a schematical representation illustrating the type ofvibration produced by the foregoing illustrated device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the embodiment ofFIG. 1, the arrow at numeral indicates an apparatus for inducingvibratory action or motion and includes an enclosure 12 whichconstitutes the vibratory 'portionof the apparatus. A motor is housedwithin enclosure 14 and is operatively connected to a flexible shaft orcable which is contained within a flexible housing 16. Power is suppliedto the motor by the illustrated electrical conduit having timer 18located therein. The housing of the flexible shaft is provided with endconnectors 20 and 22, each of which is received within an end wall ofeach of the two enclosures. An access hole 24 enables the connector 20to be removed from the vibrator.

As seen in FIG. 2, in conjunction with FIGS. I and 3, a front wall 26 isprovided with a tunnel 28 for receiving the beforementioned connectorend. A second tunnel 30 is provided within the illustrated inner wall toenable U-joint 31 to interconnect the flexible cable with the journal32. The journal is in the form of a conventional bearing which isrigidly affixed to theinner wall by the illustrated bolts. The inner andfront walls cooperate together with the top and bottom to provide asmall chamber 34. A rear wall 36 has a rear journal in the form of abearing housing 38 attached thereto by the illustrated bolts andcooperates with the remaining structure to form a large chamber 40.Shaft 42 is received within a hollow boss 44 while the opposite endofthe shaft continues through boss 46 to whereit is received and rigidlyaffixed within the U-joint. Bearing portions 44 and 46 are joumaledwithin the illustrated bearing housings.

A first eccentric weight comprised of two adjacent circular pieces ofmetal 48, 48 are firmly secured to the shaft by the il- Iustratedsetscrews. A second eccentric weight comprised of circular pieces ofmetal 50, 50 are likewise rigidly secured to the shaft and spaced apartfrom the first eccentric weight. Each eccentric weight is made into theconfiguration best seen in FIG. 3. The first and second eccentricweights are oppositely disposed with respect to each other in theillustrated manner of FIG. 2.

The details of FIG. 4, in conjunction with FIG. 5, illustrates ahandheld vibrator having a housing 112 within which is located two pairof eccentric weights. One pair of which is seen at 148, 148. The weightsare journaled within the bearing 144, and the shaft is driven by aflexible drive cable 20. Plug 138 has the illustrated bearing moldedtherewithin and also serves as a closure member for the resilienthousing. Plug 165 is identical to plug 138 with the exception of theprovision of a tunnel therethrough for the drive cable. With theexception of the shaft length, the eccentric weights are arrangedessentially as seen in the foregoing FIGS.

FIG. 6 illustrates in a diagrammatical manner an analysis of the motionwhich is imparted into the housing containing the spaced apart eccentricweights which produces the vibratory motion of the present invention. Asseen in FIG. 6, eccentric weights 48 and 50 are spaced apart from apoint of neutrality N and each eccentric weight tends to swing the shaft42 in opposite directions with each end of the shaft describing theillustrated circular motion. The point of neutrality N corresponds tothe indicated area 160 of FIG. 4 or 60 of FIG. 2.

OPERATION In operation the motor enclosure 14 is best set upon the floorin close proximity of the user of the vibrator 12 so as to enable thevibrator to be placed upon any desired portion of the body. Where thearea to be treated by the vibrator is extremely sensitive to touch, theneutral point 60 can be placed thereon since the magnitude of the energyimparted into the body increases in a radial direction away from thepoint of neutrality. This action causes circulation to be stimulated,much like a toroid, at all points about the neutral point. With thetimer T set for a specific period of time, and with the motor properlyenergized by a suitable source of current, the flexible cable turnswithin its housing thereby driving shaft 42. Since the shaft isjournaled to the rear and inner wall, and since the eccentric weights 48and 50 are diametrically opposed with respect to each other, a vibratorymotion will be imparted into the enclosure as illustrated in FIG. 6.

The motor located within the enclosure 14 is preferably a one-thirdhorsepower, 1725 rpm, 120 volt AC motor. Where it is desired to use ahigher frequency of vibration a lower horsepower motor producing 3450rpm. can be used after removing eccentric weights 48 and 50'. However,both weights togethervwith the 1725 r.p.m. motor is preferred becausethe high speed motor is noisy and sets up a very light vibrationpattern. A one-third horsepower motor is more than adequate to attainthe desired results of the present invention. It is possible to use asmaller motor, however, the cost between a one-fourth horsepower andone-third horsepower motor is negligible. The larger motor permitsvarious size weights to be used in order to change the amplitude of thevibration.

The flexible cable 16 is conventional and is preferably a three-fourthsinch flexible shaft having couplings thereon which readily mate to theUjoint 31, with the U-joint in turn being attached to a three-fourthsinch shaft 42. Weights 48 and 50 are cut from three-quarter inch thickmild steel and is provided with a one and one-half inch diameter. Theshaft hole at 42 in FIG. 3 is cut slightly oversize so as to slidablyreceive the shaft therethrough with close-fitting tolerance. The shaftis preferably undercut so as to receive the fastener located within thethreaded apertures 62, all as seen in the manner of FIG. 3. The shafthole at 42 is located near the outer periphery of the eccentric weightleaving at least oneeighth inch of metal at the thinnest portion.

It should be noted that the area of neutrality, assuming each of theeccentric weights are adjacent the bearing members, is located halfwaybetween the weights. The weights may be moved along the shaft in orderto achieve different vibrational characteristics, when desired.

The embodiment of FIG. 4 includes a resilient housing, preferably 18inches in length and 3 /zinches in'diameter, with the shaft beingjoumaled within bearings which are molded withm rubber or rubberlikeclosure members. The embodiment of FIG. 4 can be held in the hands, withthe palms placed in an upward direction to thereby enable the userthereof to utilize the apparatus while at the same time manipulating thearms in a manner similar to weight lifting. Furthermore, the apparatuscan be rubbed or rolled along the stomach and chest cavity whilecarrying out the exercise. The resilient housing enables the apparatusto conform to the chest cavity and stomach during its use, yet thehousing cannot be deformed sufficiently to cause the eccentric weightsto contact the inside peripheral wall surface thereof. With the handsadjacent each other and in close proximity to the neutral axis 160, aminimum of vibration is imparted thereinto; but with the hands extendedto an area adjacent to the spaced apart pairs of weights, the maximumamount of vibration is received by the hands.

The particular motion imparted by the spaced apart diametrically opposedeccentric weights causes the enclosure to vibrate or move in amultiplicity of directions, which is sometime referred to as solarradiation since it is directed in a number of directions much like asolar compass.

While the above is a description of two different embodiments of thepresent invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is asfollows:

Iclaim:

1. An apparatus for inducing vibratory action into an area of a person sbody comprising;

a motor, a shaft, spaced-apart journal means, an enclosure,

a first and second eccentric weight; means connecting said motor to saidshaft to thereby impart rotational motion into said shaft; said shaftbeing mounted within said enclosure by said journal means;

means affixing said first and second eccentric weights to said shaft,said first and second weights being spaced apart from each other witheach said eccentric weight being located a spaced-apart distance alongsaid shaft and between said journals;

said enclosure being in the form of a resilient elongated housing havingsaid shaft axially aligned therewith; and closure means at a terminalend of said enclosure for mounting said journal to said housing.

2. The apparatus of claim I wherein said closure means for mounting saidjournal includes resilient plugs within which said journal is located.

3. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said motor spaced apart from saidenclosure with said shaft being connected to said motor by a flexiblecable located within a protective hous-

1. An apparatus for inducing vibratory action into an area of aperson''s body comprising; a motor, a shaft, spaced-apart journal means,an enclosure, a first and second eccentric weight; means connecting saidmotor to said shaft to thereby impart rotational motion into said shaft;said shaft being mounted within said enclosure by said journal means;means affixing said first and second eccentric weights to said shaft,said first and second weights being spaced apart from each other witheach said eccentric weight being located a spaced-apart distance alongsaid shaft and between said journals; said enclosure being in the formof a resilient elongated housing having said shaft axially alignedtherewith; and closure means at a terminal end of said enclosure formounting said journal to said housing.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1wherein said closure means for mounting said journal includes resilientplugs within which said journal is located.
 3. The improvement of claim1 wherein said motor spaced apart from said enclosure with said shaftbeing connected to said motor by a flexible cable located within aprotective housing.